Definitely not in BotW, it doesn't feel like they would be together long enough to be anything further than a strong platonic relationship. I'm split on TotK, leaning towards romantic. There's a lot of little stuff sprinkled throughout the game (especially the house in Hateno), and given the passage of time, it would make sense. At the same time, it's not brought to explicit attention like it is in Skyward Sword, so it's harder to say in this case
As a Tears of the Kingdom "hater" (well, more like disliker, hate is a strong word). I do find myself agreeing with your compliments and criticism. There are some thing that were a minor annoyance for you while a dealbreaker for me (The Fuse UI for example), and that's ok and par for the course. I do want to comment a little on your points about the story though, I interpret Aonuma's statement about "a game with no story" talking more about a game that doesn't really have a narrative and players make their own story. I would say a similar game to this is Minecraft, which has no intro, barely an ending, but many players make their own stories about their survival worlds. Their first house, their pets, their builds, their losses and how they reached the ending. Even after The End players continue to build a story. I feel like something like this is Aonuma's goal, but Tears of the Kingdom is not doing this at all. Sure I tackled things in my own order, built my house, did my own creations, continued to use my horses from Breath of the WIld, but the game does have a narrative with long, sometimes unskipabble, cutscenes and established characters. So Aonuma is saying one thing while the game is doing another. Funnily enough I think Breath of the Wild was more close to this than Tears of the Kingdom. After the Great Plateau your only objective is "Defeat Ganon". Breath of the Wild gave me that more personal feeling of me doing my own story, like Minecraft, as opposed to the more involved Sage questline. I will say there are some external factors contributing to this like me not talking with Hestu until I was 80% done with the game (Yes I really thought Korok seeds were useless for that long), and the map being totally fresh. I also disagree that this is what Zelda stories are supposed to be. From A Link to the Past up until Skyward Sword every Zelda game has been a story with many subplots and characters. OoT, Minish Cap, TP, and SS are the biggest examples of games that are telling a story to the player rather than having the player shape the story. That being said if this is what they want to do now I am not opposed to it. My problem (which also extends to other aspects of the game like the gameplay) is that they want to do things without being shackled by the past games, but continue to rely on them to the point where it feels like nostalgia baiting. I personally did enjoy the Breath of the Wild story. Link has amnesia for the most part so you learn about the world as you go along. What they do with this journey is give you the backstory, and this backstory serves as a motivator to "make things right" this time. As you progress you see how the remaining towns were affected by the Calamity. You find places like Fort Hateno that tell a story on their own. Every random piece of ruins is a reminder of the calamity. However, even if Breath of the Wild was a trash tier story I don't see how that would justify Tears of the Kingdom having a bad story. The game starts with a 5 minute unskipabble cutscene. This instantly tells me as the player that they want to tell me a story and they want me to care about it. From OoT to Skyward Sword the Zelda devs have a precedent of connecting the games. Majora's Mask follows up on the story of the Hero of Time, even if in a pretty unrelated way to OoT. Wind Waker explicitly takes place after Link defeats Ganon. Phantom Hourglass follows up on this specifc Link. Twilight Princess explicitly takes place on the timeline after Child Link spoke to Zelda and prevented Ganon from rising to power. Skyward Sword marketed itself as the beginning of the timeline. The devs did connect games. I don't think every game needs to have direct connection to previous games. I don't need Tears of the Kingdom to talk about the Twilight Realm and the Minish and reveal that Termina was the depths or some fanfic nonsense like that; however if you told me "Tears of the Kingdom will feature the founder of the Kingdom of Hyrule" I expect something that is relevant and enhances the older games just like Skyward Sword did with the origin of the Master Sword. And my main point with this comment (Sorry I like yapping) are this. The Zelda team needs to decide whether they want to do something totally new or continue relying on the old games. The excuse is usually "the old lore limits our creativity", but if that's the case why do you have a Ganondorf kneeling scene that only serves to reference OoT? Why even have Ganondorf at all and not make a new villain that can let you tell the story you want to tell (or not tell). The team talks about being limited by previous games while constantly relying on their imagery, leitmotifs, characters, plot points, etc. I personally do not believe the existing Zelda lore is limiting, but if it really is that limiting then throw it away and start anew. Naming the King of Hyrule Rauru just feels like pandering at that point rather than being cool. We've had so many Kings of Hyrule and this is the first one to not have a unique name Breath of the Wild did feel like they just didn't care about previous games, but in a tasteful way. Rito have shouldn't coexist with the Zora since they are the evolution from the latter, but they wanted to bring them back with a new design so we didn't care. It was the first game in a while to not have an explicit timeline placing, so it's far in the future where it wouldn't really interfere with anything in the previous games. Even the first great calamity is far in the future. That's why many people called it a soft reboot. Tears of the Kingdom feels more like they want to have their cake and eat it too. They tell the story of AN Imprisoning War, but it's not THE Imprisoning War. They bring back Ganondorf, but it's another Ganondorf not the one we know and love. They call a character Rauru, but only because he's the sage of light, no other reason. In general just going back to Sages and Temples when BotW had the fresher Champions and Divine Beasts. Zelda went back to the founding of the Kingdom of Hyrule, but not THE Hyrule we have had in the other games. This by itself isn't a bad thing, reusing tropes and archetypes is common and in general a good thing, but even in a vacuum I think the execution of these aren't great. The Imprisoning War feels more like The Imprisoning fight. The old kingdom of Hyrule is not explored. The ancient sages are non-characters. The temples don't feel like actual locations, they feel like videogame level. The only appealing part is they tickle the nostalgia bone of having the recognizable names and characters. Even the Zonai lore itself just feels like pandering. Have a bunch of Zonai stuff since they were popular on the theories, but actually disregard what BotW implied and make up whatever. (At least in this aspect I do like Rauru and Mineru's design, and the new Zonai architecture is pretty). TLDR: Standalone I don't think the story of Tears of the Kingdom is good. In the context of the Zelda series I am annoyed at the developers justifying contradictions as wanting to "break free" from the established lore, while using the established lore and imagery to cheaply pander to Zelda fans.
I don't feel like most of these are nostalgia pandering, but a reimagining of prior Zelda stuff (whether or not it's necessarily good is another thing). The whole point of both of these games is to challenge what you think a Zelda can/should be, so these ties are to ground it since they do still want them to be Zelda games (not saying this to try and invalidate your opinions). Also, I don't think Aonuma wanting players to have their own story is inherently incompatible with a story the devs want to tell. The two can coexist, which is what I think he was talking about.
@@SuperCameraGuBrothers I also don't think all of them are solely nostalgia pandering, but things like having another Temple of Time does just feel like "Remember the Temple of Time?". I do admit that maybe the execution is just coloring my opinion. Rauru is a great example of a reimagined sage of light that works. I also agree that players having their own story and the devs themselves telling a story isn't mutually exclusive, but I feel Tears should have offered more situations where players make their own story. The house is a good example, but a bit too irrelevant. I think the invasion of Gerudo Town is a place where they kinda tried to do it. They let players choose which defenses go on which part of the town which is a neat concept, but has a kind of lame execution. I think more scenarios like these that are more fleshed out would achieve what Aonuma mentions in the interview. Arguably the shrines already achieved it with many people talking about their different solutions. Imagine if when fighting the Molgera fight you were prompted to make a flying machine out of Goron materials instead of automatically being given a flying machine or if in the Construct Factory you created an extremely customized construct instead of the predetermined one. Stuff like this is what I hope to see in a future game where players make their own story.
In BotW, I’d go to Faron tower, glide to a plateau on one side, there are lots of hearty durian. Then if you go back then glide to the other side you get lots of mighty bananas. In TotK you go to the side where hearty durian’s were previously, now there are none and you get attacked by Gloom Hands . Initially I thought it was blood moon but it was too early … nice . Bananas are still On the other side. I think they did this intentionally, no coincidence. Just to show this isn’t going to be too easy .
Definition according to Google: a detailed analysis and assessment of something, especially a literary, philosophical, or political theory. First paragraph of Wikipedia article: Critique is a method of disciplined, systematic study of a written or oral discourse. Although critique is commonly understood as fault finding and negative judgment,[1] it can also involve merit recognition, and in the philosophical tradition it also means a methodical practice of doubt. (Apologies if this was too rude, was not my intention to insult you)
Bingo battle is truly only about 2 terrible Nintendo decisions from being an all time great competitive 1v1 game. The randomized bingo card is just brilliant. I would love to see the absolute mindgames that would occur if it were played at a high level
Probably my biggest issue with the story is that they retconned the Zonai from a barbaric ancient tribe located primarily in Faron to... magic godlike sky goats. I don't mind Zelda retcons in the story usually but this is a direct sequel to the game where the Zonai where introduced. And then they don't even explain much about them?? We see their technology, two of their members, and learn about the stormwind ark. Thats kinda all I gathered (Feel free to tell me anything more we learned, I haven't played for a bit). The name "Zonai" is a pun on mystery so I don't see why they would even put the Zonai in such a prominent spot in the first place.
I got to Mineru and finished dragons tears way earlier than the game wanted me to and i genuinely think that and finding one memory out of order that spoiled the entire thing completely ruined my conception of and immersion in this story. I don’t understand why they made it so you could find memories in any order when viewing them out of it is such a tank on the experience. Same goes for stumbling on Mineru, If the fog is meant to deter players from getting to it early, then why not make it like the mystic fog in korok forest that actually teleports you away when you haven’t gotten to that point in the story yet? After learning about Zelda and having to follow some illusions that you know aren’t real around with the game just failing to give any dialogue or indication of this being the case there was such a clear break in immersion the rest of the regional phenomenon quests and bits of us following her around felt so pointless, pointless in a way i’ve never felt playing thru the main story of a zelda game before. I get they want absolute freedom here, but when it’s actively detracting from the grand narrative they want to spin I feel like it’s worth reconsidering.
I haven't played Pikmin 4, but I assume this holds true for it, too. There's no other series of games I've played that embodies "comparison is the thief of joy" quite like Pikmin. Every game is different enough that to compare them to one another only hurts the player. I see them as the same "family" but if I try to compare them to each other, I just feel worse about all of them. Pikmin 1 is designed to be this intimate experience that, to me, lets you get in-tune with the world and it's character. The ability to speedrun it mechanically is just a bonus in my opinion. Pikmin 2 is designed to be this larger than life task - not necessarily a whimsical adventure, but one where it's big enough that you still want to take your time - like a moving trip. It's such a huge undertaking that speeding through is to wallow in defeat, but despite it's unfun premise it still brings out a memorable and satisfying, experience seeing this large project come together. Pikmin 3 is like a fun business trip - there are beautiful sights to see (courtesy of its superior graphics), but the power is in your hands. You make more decisions than ever, with contentious "best combat types" (before it was reds, yellows with bombs, and for 2, purples. Now it could be reds for higher damage, rocks for their specific use cases, or wings for their spicy spray synergy and versatility against water) and the management of three captains with more control over them than ever before. The stakes are the highest, but you're not alone and you know that you can succeed even if the numbers aren't initially on your side. You had "help" in 2, but that was more "2 people doing their own that happen to share a goal" (emphasized by the fact that every character's text, while chock-full of sald character, is self contained, with nobody interacting with each other 95% of the time. Even everyone had separate motivations, with Olimar just trying to get the job done for the sake of rest, Louie being there out of obligation by Chacho and other mysterious motivations, and Chacho's sole motive being cash money. Also your help was either Louie and greed incarnate, so... Is it _really_ help?). Now, everyone interacts with each other both in story and in gameplay, with the same ultimate motivation. It won't last long in the grand scheme of things and isn't always the most intimate, but it's tightly knit and a story worth telling nonetheless. Pikmin 1's intimacy contrasts with 2's cold unpersonability (in a good way). 2's scope contrasts with 3's focus. 3's community and beauty contrasts with 1's solitude and simplicity. To compare each game is to ignore their unique, incompatible strengths, leaving you with their "weaknesses" that are only flaws under a universal standard. The sum lf Pikmin's parts are ironically (in a good way) better than the package as a whole.
Love this thanks!! Been playing a lot of the 2d Zeldas. I don't know much about epilepsy but wondering if it's worth putting a flash warning before the part in minish cap section where it speeds though the miniatures collection. Anyway, well done
Adventure of Link goes from a cozy stroll to bone breaking the hard in the span of two dungeons LOL and then the last stretch of the game is so unforgiving I don't blame anyone for cheating. I didn't but I will if I ever decide to poison my NES with it again
Still haven't heard anyone pile praise on this game like Breath got... Eh at least when I buy it I'll get it cheaper than retail. I'm kinda glad you made this review this long so I have plenty of ideas of what to expect
About something you say around 1:10:00. I think some of the memory photos were not taken on the same day the memory occured, and Link remembers the memory we get to see instead of how he took the picture because his emotional connections to those moments are so much stronger. One evidence for this: There's no rain in the picture you used as an example
I may be a little biased because TP is my favourite Zelda game and my 2nd favourite game ever but I think the opening is genius. Twilight Princess, in my opinion, was the first 3D Zelda game to really nail the Hero's Journey. Ocarina and Majora both start off the game with a sense of urgency; in Ocarina your very first task is to meet the Deku Tree and not 20 minutes into the game you're told that the world is in danger and only you can help. In Majora, Link is already a hero. He's already gone through the events of Ocarina and is once again thrust into the hero position because there'd a very clear and devastating threat to Termina. TP, however, starts off relaxed and peaceful. Link is a simple ranch hand and you spend your time just being another resident of Ordon, nothing more and nothing less. Link is not a warrior, he's a caregiver and a protector. Link's quest in the beginning isn't to save the world, its to rescue his friends. It just so happens that his call to action ends up catapulting him into a position where the fate of the world rests on his shoulders. Windwaker has a similar feel to its opening with your journey to rescue Aryll being undercut by Ganondorf's conquest of Hyrule, but I don't think it nails the intro quite as hard because Link isn't just a simple villager. He's a fighter, he trains with Orca and he comes from a line of warriors. That fighting spirit lives inside him. And while TP Link does have the Triforce of Courage and ancestral ties to the previous Links in the timeline, TP feels the most disconnected from the overarching narrative that spans these games. Plus a big reason for his motivations is his relationship with Midna, something Windwaker could never have done with KORL.
Years before I started playing Zelda I always saw the back then new games Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks in magazines. Young me thought that was what all Zelda games looked like, and I get weirdly nostalgic over these two. I love them and Windwaker for the artstyle!
Its fun bur rightfully so Oatchi gets so much thrown on him, i think 50 should have been his max pull, with 1/8th its chomp so he doesnt massacre things and remove dive cause blue pikmins.
Thanks for stating that this video was just gonna be unbridled positivity. Saved me three hours. I agree though that maybe if you’re below the age of ten or a deeply boring and unimaginative person, this game is probably amazing. But if you’re someone who say, maybe wonders why almost no landmarks or ruins from a reused overworld are changed at all, or FFS expects akkala citadel to have more than just a generic cave attached during its reuse, then this game probably isn’t for you
I try not to be a jerk when people have different opinions, (like for instance, insulting someone for liking something I dislike), but sometimes it's really hard. I am fighting the tears so hard right now. My entire being has been shaken by being called deeply boring and unimaginative. Because I like this game, it means that I am far too stupid to come up with an insult that will cut you as deep as you have cut me. (The snark is barely being held back, fyi)
Sidon being the most useless? Lol naaah, his ability gives you the wet status. That combined with Zora weaponry and combining those with powerful monster parts nets you an easy 100+ attack damage
Best master sword pull ever no question. Best ending section by far no question. For me this is the best ever game. No it didnt capture that same amazing wonder i had playing BOTW for the first time but it just is so much better in every other way that it makes me feel BOTW was only a stepping stone to this game.
watching the intro rn, and hearing that you love totk as much as i do is weirdly enough super refreshing to hear. like, i get it has flaws, but so many people on RU-vid have been hating recently - when I couldn't have asked for a better sequel overall given it's themes, etc
Long time pikmin fan here. Every time i find someone who doesn't like pikmin 2 theyre the type to use swarming to attack a bulborb from the front but not to cross a bridge. I won't pretend there isn't a bunch of jank in pikmin 2 but every game after it has become so ridiculously easy its almost boring [and im the kinda guy who can find something to like in all the pikmin games, even hey pikmin so this sint me saying i hate any of the pikmin games, i like them all tbh, i just like 2 the most].
20:34 ice pikmin do not share the same limitation of not being able to cling to enemies as rock pikmin. They can cling, the only nerf they have is less attack power.
i was very surprised to see you're a relatively small channel - this video was very well-produced and i appreciated the subtitles! you've got a new subscriber
I would amazed if someone complained about pikmin 2 without complaining about caves, not complaining about you or your video, just something that wpuld be amusing
I'm not sure how likely that is to happen since the caves are pretty much the only major thing to complain about since the rest of the stuff is generally pretty solid
It seems to me that Breath of the wild was a rough draft almost experiment, then when everyone loved it they were like okay now let's make the game that we really want to make.
Zelda 2 is the best of the three. It needs a sequal. Like a mixture of overhead dungeons and side scroll dungeons in one game would be so fun. Like overhead map above ground palaces in overhead view, and caverns caves and undergroud dungeons in side scroll. Final boss could have stages in the fight that goes back and forth between views.
